MLAs of Shinde faction return to Mumbai; election for Assembly Speaker today
India Today
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who have extended support to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday returned to Mumbai from Goa.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who support Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde returned to Mumbai from Goa on Saturday evening on the eve of a special two-day session of the state legislature which will see election for the post of Assembly Speaker as well as a floor test of the new government.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar claimed that Narhari Zirwal, the deputy Speaker, can still perform officiating Speaker's duties even though a no-confidence motion is pending against him. The post of Speaker has been vacant since last year.
Earlier on Saturday, Sena MLA and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist Rajan Salvi filed his nomination as the candidate of the Shiv Sena-NCP- Congress coalition for the Speaker's election, which will be held on Sunday.
He will face off with first-time BJP legislator Rahul Narvekar who also filed his nomination.
On July 4, newly sworn-in Chief Minister Shinde will take a floor test.
As many as 50 MLAs who support Shinde, including 39 rebel legislators of the Shiv Sena, on Saturday evening flew to Mumbai from Goa by a chartered flight. Shinde, who had flown to Goa in the morning, accompanied them back.
The MLAs have been camping at a starred hotel in Dona Paula since June 29 after flying to Goa from Guwahati. Many of them had left Maharashtra on June 21 along with Shinde.
